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Bajan Newscap 1/12/2016

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is your daily newscap for Thursday 12th January 2017 . Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT) or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

NOT BUDGING - Despite getting more up-to-date information on the Barbados economy, international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s (S), is sticking to the downgrade it issued five months ago. It is also maintaining its negative outlook through to next year. In September, S had downgraded Barbados’ long-term sovereign credit ratings from ‘B’ to ‘B-’, and in a report released Tuesday, which it said supplemented its September review, it felt the “differences have been determined not to be sufficiently significant to affect the rating and our main conclusions”. S insisted that the negative outlook reflected the potential for a downgrade if Government failed to make additional progress on lowering its high fiscal deficit, if growth resulting from key investment projects failed to materialise, or if external pressures worsened because of persistent and large current account deficits (CADS). (DN)

EXCHANG RATE WORRY – The threat of a dollar revaluation could be looming on the horizon for Barbados following another downgrade. That’s according to a Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) report, which listed the threat of revaluation due to the printing of money and persistent external account deficits. Yesterday, CariCRIS downgraded Barbados’ $300 million debt by one notch from a CariBBB+ to a CariBBB, and also downgraded the island’s currency rating from CariA- to CariBBB+. Analysing the country’s strengths and weaknesses, the Trinidad-based agency noted the Government’s commitment to continuing its 41-year-long BDS$2 to US$1 exchange rate. (DN)

SLIPPERY SLOPE - The latest downgrade of the Barbados economy is an indication the country is approaching crisis levels, according to Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Association (SBA) Lynette Holder. Holder blamed the recent downgrades on the failure of Government’s fiscal policies, and she called on the Freundel Stuart administration to “come back to the table, engage the public, engage the citizenry and look at what strategies we need to put in place to correct those failures”.She said it was no longer good enough for the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet to address important national issues such as the state of the economy at Democratic Labour Party meetings, insisting the entire country ought to be part of the efforts at a solution. While the latest downgrade was troubling to business leaders and economists, it did not come as a surprise to any of them. Among those who saw it coming was President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Eddy Abed who saw the deficit as a huge weight dragging down the economy. In fact, Abed said unless Barbadians demand a reduction in Government spending the country would continue “on this slippery slope”. However, he warned that any cuts could lead to “further hardship to those who depend on Government’s welfare and entitlement programmes” in the short term, but Barbadians had to understand that the social programmes were costly and would have to be paid for by user fees, or drastically scaled back. (BT)

SOL IT IS – It’s almost a done deal. Nine months after Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler announced the sale of this island’s lone oil terminal to a private entity, the name of the potential buyer has been formally announced. In a statement today, the state-owned Barbados National Oil Company Ltd. (BNOCL) revealed that it had signed an agreement with the SOL Group for the sale of its subsidiary, the Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL). Under the agreement, BNOCL will continue to source, import, own and distribute gasoline, diesel and fuel oil to all local marketers, and it is assuring local consumers that they will be able to access their products as before. “Prices at the pumps will only change in accordance with the price of imported products as is currently done,” the oil company’s added in its statement. However, the deal is still awaiting regulatory approval, and is therefore not due to be completed before the first quarter of 2017. (BT)

AGREEMENT ON TRANSPORT PLAN - The Transport Board, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) are all on the same page when it comes to the bus issue. Their united position came after a meeting yesterday, which was led by Minister of Transport Michael Lashley, to come up with a plan to move hundreds of passengers stranded in the bus terminals at peak time because of a shortage of buses. The meeting was held at the ministry’s headquarters in The Pine, St Michael, to address a special project that would see private transport integrated into the public system, including picking up passengers from Transport Board terminals. Following the meeting, which included officials from the Transport Board and the BWU led by general secretary Toni Moore, it was announced that an agreement on the way forward was reached. (DN)

EMERGENCY POTHOLE PATCH HITS A BUMP - THE GOVERNMENT’S emergency pothole patching programme hit a major bump yesterday. Project manager at the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), Roland Daisley, told the DAILY NATION operations were halted when the asphalt manufacturing plant at C.O. Williams Construction in Lears, St Michael, broke down. As a result, he said the four trucks that were dispatched in St Michael districts could not source a second load of asphalt to complete their work. The trucks could transport between three to six tonnes of asphalt, he said. “The plant broke down before midday for sure. It affected the operation because each truck was trying to get another load of mix. We were supposed to go back after lunch to get another load to continue patching.”(DN)

IMPORT SQUEEZE - Importers are concealing data on foreign produce, distorting the market and threatening the future of local farmers, it was claimed yesterday. James Paul, chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society, made the charge after Constant Plantation in St George reported being saddled with hundreds of tonnes of unsold pumpkins that a spokesperson blamed on imports during October and November, when the orange-yellow fruit was in great demand for conkies. Paul wants more transparency in the importation process and a readily available database of commodities landing here. “Before, we had a way of checking to ensure what commodities were actually coming into the country,” he told the DAILY NATION, “but it seems to me that people have resorted now to hiding this information or the information comes in after the fact. (DN)

DEADLY DIETS - Every day at least one Barbadian suffers a heart attack, while two suffer strokes, according to a leading pharmacist, who described the situation as a crisis. Speaking yesterday at a lunchtime lecture organized by the National Council on Substance Abuse on the topic Prescription Drugs and You, pharmacist Paul Gibson said the island was on a “bullet train to poor health”. While not revealing the number of deaths from these conditions, Gibson attributed the situation to Barbadians’ eating habits –consuming foods high in salt and sugar –which lead to hypertension and diabetes, the two main chronic non communicable diseases (NCDs) affecting Barbadians. He focused his presentation primarily on these two conditions, and mentioned that hypertensive patients often showed no symptoms, although in some cases shortness of breath, headaches and nosebleeds could be alarming signs. The PAHO official said then 84 per cent of total deaths in Barbados were attributed to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and cancer. He also referred to World Health Organization figures which revealed that Barbadians had a 14 per cent probability of dying between the ages of 30 and 70 years from one of these diseases. (BT)

TOP COP NOT ON POLICE PROMOTIONS LIST - Acting Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith has not been included in a list of close to 60 police promotions, which were announced by the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) today. However, Griffith, who has been acting as the island’s top cop for the past three years, having taken over the role from Darwin Dottin who was sent on leave and only officially retired last year, still presided over today’s official ceremony at Police Headquarters at which 56 elevated officers were issued with their letters of appointment. So far no official explanation has been given for the move. However, leading the list of promotions was former Senior Superintendent of Police Erwin Boyce, who has been confirmed in the position of Assistant Commissioner of Police. (BT)

GOLLOP UPSET CLIENT NOT BROUGHT TO COURT –Queen ’s Counsel Hal Gollop has raised concern about “the protection of rights and the misuse of power by people who hold authority” in the court system. His comments came after his client, who was on remand, was not brought to court yesterday, the adjourned date for his case. The client was reportedly not brought down because the magistrate was absent. Gollop’s client, Ricky Kenneth Yearwood, (right) 45, of 3rd Avenue, Grazettes, St Michael, pleaded not guilty to unlawfully and maliciously wounding Jameelia Wahid on October 8. He also denied that he damaged her car and entered her house as a trespasser with intent to inflict serious bodily harm on her that same day. (DN)

ARTHUR REMANDED ON SEX CHARGE - A 24-year-old man was today remanded to prison after he was unable to secure a bail surety. Reuben Benjamin Arthur of Spooner’s Alley, Mason Hall Street, St Michael was not required to plead to the charge of having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old. The offence allegedly occurred sometime between November 1, 2016 and January 9 this year. Police prosecutor Sergeant Neville Watson had no objections to Arthur’s release. The case was heard by Magistrate Douglas Frederick who also presided over the matter involving 42-year-old Anderson Ryan Ince of Bridge Field, St Thomas. Ince, a clerical officer, is accused of sending, by means of a telecommunications network, the threatening message: “You want shooting and chopping up. . . . All I got for you is some bullets” to Cranston Crichlow on December 12, 2016. He denied the charge and was granted $2,500 bail with one surety and ordered to return to court on June 12. Ince was represented by attorney-at-law Steve Gollop. (BT)

LABOURER ON BAIL FOR RAPE – A St Michael labourer was granted $10, 000 bail after appearing in court today on three serious charges. Shane Leemar Hoyte, a 30-year-old resident of Mount Friendship, appeared before Magistrate Douglas Frederick this afternoon charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on Ethone Jones. He told the court he was not guilty of the offence that allegedly occurred on July 27, 2016. However, he was not required to plead to the charge of having sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent on January 5 this year, and stealing a $500 cellular phone belonging to her and $20 in cash. The police prosecutor Sergeant Neville Watson did not object to bail. Hoyte, who was represented by attorney Verla Depeiza, returns to court on June 23. (BT)

ALLEGED HAM THEIF DENIED BAIL – A man who has a “multiplicity of convictions” attached to his name will spend the next 28 days at HMP Dodds after he appeared in court for allegedly stealing a ham. Anthony Rudolph Thorpe, 59, of Derricks, St James yesterday denied in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court that he stole the item, valued at $70.17, from Hanschell Inniss Limited last Saturday. Prosecutor Sergeant Rudy Pilgrim objected to bail on the grounds that the unemployed man was currently on bail from two courts. “[He has] a multiplicity of convictions, most of them under the Theft Act,” the prosecutor said, adding that having Thorpe on remand would be for “the protection of society and the accused” as well. In his bail application, Thorpe explained to the magistrate that he was a “very sick man” and suffered with asthma and hypertension. However, Frederick told him that he could not use the same excuse every time he came to court on similar allegations. “I get accused wrongfully,” said Thorpe who will reappear in court on February 6. (BT)

SIBLING RIVALRY - A Bridgetown magistrate has placed a St Lucian man on a bond to keep the peace for the next six months, after he admitted to piercing his brother’s hand with a garden fork during an argument over access to land. Magistrate Douglas Frederick handed down the order on 52-year-old Terrance Demar of Odessa McClean Drive, The Belle, St Michael as punishment for assaulting Junior Demar on December 15. The No.1 District ‘A’ Magistrate made the decision after Demar’s attorneys, Dominique Pinder and Shamar Bovell, strongly argued for his release from prison where he has been on remand since December 28. Pinder told the court that her client had no previous convictions and did not waste the court’s time, as he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. She said he had ties in the country, including family, a girlfriend, property and other possessions. The magistrate then asked whether the fact that the accused and complainant are brothers was a mitigating or aggravating factor. Bovell took up the seemingly challenging question. “Brothers have skirmishes with each other, Sir, from time to time . . . from biblical times, Your Worship,” he answered. In pleading for leniency on Terrance’s behalf, the attorneys disclosed that Junior had been contacted to appear in court but had expressed no interest in showing up. They also stressed that the St Lucian was “rooted” in the Barbadian society, “with assets, house and family”. Magistrate Frederick informed the attorneys that the court was not in a position to help the accused with his immigration troubles. He then imposed the bond. If Demar breaches it, he will have to pay a $2,000 fine forthwith or spend three months in prison. “The Immigration will do their part,” the magistrate added. (BT)

PLUMBER CONFESSES TO DESTROYING PIPES - A plumber who declared to being “de best” may not come out on top when he returns to the District ‘A’ Magistrate’ Court this Friday. When Jeffery O’neal Mayers, 42, of Thickets Land, St Philip went before Magistrate Douglas Frederick yesterday, he confessed to destroying a quantity of fittings worth $1,331.79 belonging to Pat Bowen, on August 22, 2016. Mayers was hired by Bowen back in July last year to install pipes in a four-bedroom house under construction. The two had agreed that the job was worth $6,000 and Bowen paid Mayers $1,000 up front to get the job off the ground. However, acting under the advice of a contractor, Bowen informed Mayers on August 22 that the plumbing was not done correctly. Police prosecutor Sergeant Rudy Pilgrim said that comment did not sit well with Mayers who told Bowen that no one could tell him how to do his job. The homeowner later saw Mayers cutting pipes, but she thought he was carrying out adjustments. However, a later check revealed that he was actually destroying the pipes. She confronted him about the matter and Mayers left the site after telling Bowen to find another plumber. “I does good plumbing,” Mayers told the court as he sought to explain what took place with Bowen, whom he described as a friend. He stated that he had been in the field for 22 years. “She agreed with every step made,” said Mayers, who was not happy that Bowen had discussed his work with someone else. “I is de best,” Mayers declared. “He want to tell me how to do my job. . . . There ain’t no building I can’t do.” After telling the court that he cut the pipe as requested by Bowen, Mayers was granted $3,000 bail with one surety to return to court on Friday for sentencing. (BT)

MOTHER FORCED TO PAY UP - He’s out on bail in two courts in Barbados, but Kyle Chad Archer’s luck ran out in Guyana recently. Now the mother of the #59 Bayview Avenue, Bayville, St Michael resident has to pay a hefty price to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, and she has only six months to do so. Archer’s attorney Roy Hurley today appeared in court and informed Magistrate Douglas Frederick that the accused was in a Georgetown prison serving a four-year sentence, after he was caught smuggling drugs into Guyana. Hurley said he received a call from a lawyer in that country that Archer had been arrested at the airport with cocaine strapped to his thigh. “I was shocked,” the attorney said. Archer’s mother told the court she was not aware that her son had left the country. “He left home for school at the [Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic]. I didn’t know he was going away. He left dress for school, with school bag and all that, Sir, and that was the last time I saw him . . . October 6,” she said. The mother went on to explain that she did not check her son’s whereabouts when she did not see him, as he has a young child with his girlfriend and usually slept there. “I thought he was with his girlfriend . . . and she thought he was with me,” the mother added. Hurley said Archer’s action was a “stupid move on his part”, as he had now left his mother to bear the burden. “This mother standing surety and most mothers will do the same, but he took advantage of his mother [as] there is no way she can check on him 24-7,” the lawer said. Archer was out on $10,000 bail, on a charge of having sexual intercourse with an underage girl. His mother has six months to pay the court $5,000 of the total bail amount or she will spend three months in jail. (BT)

GUYANESE JAILED FOR ASSAULTING WOMEN – A Guyanese national will spend three months behind bars for assaulting his former girlfriend and another woman. Magistrate Douglas Frederick imposed the sentence on Kelvin James Weekes, who lived at Lot 10 Hallets Tenantry, Brighton, Black Rock, St Michael, after he informed the court that he was unable to compensate the complaints. Weekes was charged with assaulting former girlfriend Natasha Corbin, as well as assaulting Catherine Smith, occasioning her actual bodily harm. Both incidents took place on December 27. Today, both Corbin and Smith appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court. “I was assisting her [Corbin] in getting some of her things [and an argument started]. I told him things don’t happen like that . . . cause a small argument can lead to a big argument and his head does get hot,” explained Smith who received a laceration during the incident. Asked by Magistrate Fredrick whether he could compensate Smith for her injuries, Weekes replied: “Me don’t have no money, Sir.” “And Corbin?” the magistrate asked. “I ain’t do she nothing. I just touch she,” Weekes replied. The magistrate then sentenced Weekes to three months in prison on each count, to run concurrently. The Immigration Department will also be notified about his sentence and release date. (BT)

CONTONE GETS TIME TO COMPOSE NEXT SONG - Popular calypso singer contone could not sing his way out of court yesterday like he did on the previous occasion. Instead, he left the District “A” Magistrates’ Court bound for Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds to contemplate the lyrics of his next song. Derrick Anderson Brathwaite, alias Contone, 41, who has no fixed address, was remanded until February 8 after pleading guilty to theft. He was charged with entering Frances Alexander’s home as a trespasser and stealing a camera, laptop, earring and necklace set, a penknife, stainless steel opener, one LG cellphone and charger, a Samsung cellphone and charger, a Motorola cellphone and charger, a handbag, cosmetic bag, charger cable, silver bracelet, gold ring and a silver ring. The items were worth $4 183. (DN)

PAKISTAN BOARD REFUTES FICA CLAIMS - The PCB has issued a strong rebuttal of the security advice given by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) over the planned staging of the Pakistan Super League final in Lahore. The report strongly suggested that overseas players should decline to participate due to concerns over safety. Pakistan’s board swiftly and fiercely rejected the FICA assessment via a strongly worded press release. “FICA has done great disservice to the cause of cricket in general and Pakistan cricket in particular by advising players not to play in the PSL final in Lahore next March because of ‘security reasons’,” read a statement. “FICA has cited unnamed expert security consultants for updated security advice that claims Pakistan is at an extremely elevated state of insecurity.” The FICA statement came shortly after the PCB had announced that the final would be played in Lahore on March 5, as planned, whether overseas players take part or not. If they decline to travel, they will be replaced by players from Pakistan or foreign players who are ready to make a trip. Apart from the final the entire tournament will be played in the UAE – as was the 2016 edition. The two finalists will then meet at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. (BT)

ADAMS CONFIRMED AS CRICKET DIRECTOR - The West Indies Cricket Board Tuesday confirmed the appointment of former West Indies captain, Jimmy Adams, as its new director of cricket. The 49-year-old, who recently stepped down as head coach of English County side, Kent, after four years in charge, has replaced Englishman Richard Pybus who did not seek a renewal of his contract. News of Adams’s appointment had been widely reported earlier this month. The Jamaican, who will be based in Antigua, officially started his new role on Tuesday on a three-year contract and said he was keen to undertake his duties. (BT)

AAB NOT TALKING TO ATHLETES – An independent athlete is contending that the Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) is in need of a shake-up. The athlete, who requested anonymity, charged that he and some of his colleagues are being prohibited by the association from registering for the current season. “The AAB is preventing unattached athletes from registering with the association for the upcoming season for reasons unknown to us,” he said. “A number of athletes have been going to the AAB office to register for the season, and both athletes and officials are being told that the president wants to meet with the athletes relative to registering for the season.” (DN)

GAMES ON – The National Primary Schools Athletics Championship (NAPSAC) will feature on Barbados’ 2017 sporting calendar after all. New NAPSAC chairman Richmark Cave made this confirmation Wednesday afternoon to Barbados TODAY, assuring that the championship, considered the pinnacle of track and field competition and supremacy for Under-13 athletes, in Barbados was very much on track. It was reported just a few weeks ago that due to insufficient funding NAPSAC was in danger of not being staged this year. Former chairman Wayne Robinson met last month with 50 primary school teachers and coaches to review the 2016 NAPSAC season and it was said that the chances of having NAPSAC this year were slim to none without sponsorship. Robinson had previously indicated that it would cost $200,000 to stage the championship and that the move to the Usain Bolt Complex last year due to the closure of the stands at the National Stadium, had hit their pockets to a point where they had lost about two-thirds of their spectatorship and income. Now, Cave has stated that the athletics meet will be off and running at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex beginning February 13 and that notification letters have already been sent out to all schools. He said that based on responses from sponsors the championship would meet its financing costs. (BT)

MATTHEW’S CUP - Matthew Foster-Estwick’s play was good enough to win him the BTA Invitational, and now a spot among Barbados’ best. The country’s next best tennis talent is set tomake his senior national debut next month after predictably getting named in the Davis Cup squad to Paraguay. Newly appointed captain Damien Applewhaite broke the news yesterday, announcing Foster-Estwick’s inclusion in a team which includes world no.145 Darian King, veteran Davis Cup player Haydn Lewis and Seanon Williams. “His performance during the Invitational was very convincing, so it’s clear that during this time at college he’s been able to catch up to the more seasoned players because he’s definitely earned his place,”said Applewhaite. (DN)

LITERARY CONTEST DOGGED BY PLAGIARISM - Plagiarism has raised its ugly head in Barbados’ premiere creative writing competition, the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment (FCLE), according to chairman of judges Antonio ‘Boo’ Rudder. Speaking at the 2016 awards ceremony, he gave several examples of immaturity in the submissions, while indicating that one or more of the budding authors had copied the writing of another person or persons and entered it as original. “We still see too many pieces that are indicative of hasty preparation and lack of attention to detail, and at times blatant plagiarism that cannot be justified at this level of creative endeavour,” Rudder told a shocked audience in the Grand Salle of the Central Bank on Saturday evening. Plagiarism at the level of FCLE came as a surprise because the endowment is in the name of a Barbadian man of arts, a stage performer, painter, and teacher who had in his classes the likes of George Lamming and the late Austin Tom Clarke. (BT)

LIONS HEADING FOR 100 - Lions Clubs International is striding towards its 100th anniversary of committed service to communities in need around the world. The Lions and Leos, younger members of the Lions Club of Barbados, on Sunday got together to commemorate the start of the significant milestone at the St Matthew’s Church. The Lions Club, initially called Association of Lions Club, was founded by Chicago businessman Melvin Jones on June 7, 1917 and has since grown into the world’s largest service club organization with over 1.3 million members. The first Lions Club in Barbados was founded on September 26, 1961, led by the late Cecil deCaires. (BT)

YOUTH URGED TO GET INVOLVED - The newly elected president of the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC) Roshanna Trim wants young people to play a more vibrant role when it comes to decision-making in Barbados. She stressed that it was important for the youth to be aware of the power they wield, “because young people are more or less the deciding demographic”. Trim said the new executive is committed to making sure that youth are empowered and included going forward, and it is excited to get plans off the ground to unite youth organizations across the island and get corporate Barbados invested in young people so that more programmes can be developed. (BT)

THREE RECEIVE TOP AWARDS - IT’S OFFICIAL. Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave yesterday knighted Sir Geoffrey Cave, Sir John Connell and Dame Selma Jackman during a ceremony at Government House for those receiving Independence honours as well as the Barbados Jubilee Honour. Sir Geoffrey received the honour for outstanding contribution to business, Sir John Connell QC, for law and the protection of the environment, and Dame Selma, a surgeon, for her outstanding contribution to the medical profession. (DN)

MISS UNIVERSE BARBADOS OFF TO PHILIPPINES - Miss Universe Barbados Shannon Harris is off to the Philippines to compete in the Miss Universe 2017 pageant. The Bajan beauty left for Manila this morning to join official pre-pageant activities that will start on January 15. A beaming Harris told Barbados TODAY she was ready to go and urged Barbadians to continue to show their support.Her parents, Kathy and Derek Harris, were equally excited. They are confident that Shannon can bring home the crown. The pageant will take place on the evening of January 29th. (BT)

There are 22 Days until Girlfriends Expo & Arts Festival (February 4th & 5th) and you can purchase your tickets from Ticket Pal.

To all our nation’s teachers who are returning to work today remember we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child. Well that’s all for today folks. There are 353 more days in the year ;) Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps https://www.facebook.com/TheChaseFilesTVShow/

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